Combined seesaw and roundabout



Oct. 22, 1957 s. B. HOWARD 2,310,577

COMBINED SEESAW AND4R0UNDABOU'1 7 Filed March 24, 1953 s Sheets-Sheet 1 v 4 FIG V l7/2o A ,4 I I8 ,4 SHERMAN a. HOWARD.

INVENTOR g yyaa 5. B. HOWARD COMBINED sEEs'Aw AND ROUNDABOUT Oct. 22, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 24, 1953 Fls. 3

SHERMAN B. HOWARD [NVENTOR r7 "Oct. 22, 1957 Fild March 24, 1953 5. B.-HOWARD comma: SEESAW AND ROUNDABOUT 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 SHERMAN BgHOWARD INVENTOR United States Patent COMBINED SEESAW AND ROUNDABOUT Sherman B. Howard, Mercer Island, Wash.

Application March 24, 1953, Serial No. 344,399

Claims. (Cl. 272-30) This invention relates to improvement in an amusement device and, more particularly, involves the provision of an occupant-propelled round-about or merry-go-round in which one, or more, occupants, can produce travel in an annular path about a central axis.

An important object of this invention is the provision of an amusement device suitable for children, to be used in home playgrounds, school yards, and parks; which is simple of construction and safe to use; which may be operated by a single occupant; and which may be used without fear of injury even though the use of the device is not supervised.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a revolving amusement device capable of producing circular undulating travel of the occupant or occupants about an axis through the bringing together or separation of a rotatable carrier relative to a rotary base element.

Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of an inexpensive and easily constructed amusement device which is sturdy and serviceable and which may be operated with considerable satisfaction, as to amusement gained, by a single child who may be considerably unskilled in his initial operation of the mechanism.

These, and various other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully appreciated from a consideration of the following description of the invention as shown in the drawings which illustrate presently preferred embodiments thereof, and, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a two-passenger occupant-propelled amusement device according to my invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical section of a central portion of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of an alternate form of the invention shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a partially schematic, vertical partially sectional view taken along the axis of an upright support of multiple-occupant, round-about according to my invention on which the occupants stand to manipulate the same;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view of a multipleoccupant round-about according to my invention in which construction the occupants sit to operate the device; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation in section showing the central structure of Figure 3.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, wherein is shown a two passenger round-about, it will be noted that a base, easily movable, is provided which comprises the ring 10 having radial spokes 12 from which rises the column 14 that is braced by angularly disposed bars 16 extending between the rings 10 and column 14 at a point somewhat above the ground. Column 14 has an annular collar 18 secured to it and the horizontally rotatable footboard 20 is mounted by means of bearings 22 and 24 resting in part on collar 18 and encircling upright extension 26 of column 14. The footboard 20 has cross bars 21 at each end so that an occupant and user of the device can 2,810,577 Patented Oct. 22, 1 957 rest his feet securely upon the footboard and obtain a rather substantial purchase thereon. Above column extension 26, the shaft 28 is obliquely disposed at an obtuse angle and has thereon the fixed collar 30 which supports, for rotation, the seatboard 32 which extends radially on either side of the axis of shaft 28 an equal distance and is broadened to form seats 34', 34 to receive the passengers. Fins 36 having cross handles 38 provide means whereby a passenger sitting upon the seat 34 may securely grasp by hand the seatboard upon which he rides. The seatboard is provided with free turning bearings 31 to insure that it is easily rotated.

To insure that the footboard 20 and the seatboard 32 are coordinated during use of this amusement device, I

extend downward at right angles to the seatboard 32 a pair of pins 40 which are disposed one on each side of the axis of the shaft extension 28. These pins have their lower ends positioned in a slot or groove formed by two flanges 42 secured to the footboard and lying on each side of shaft extension 28.

The operation of the device is extremely simple and easily grasped by quite small children. A child places himself upon the seat 34 and disposes his feet on the cross bar 21 of the footboard. Assuming that but a single child is to use the device, it would be preferable for him to first place himself on the seat 34, shown to the right in Figure 1, in which case his knees would be bent and he would be sitting relatively close to that end of the footboard. that lies under him. By flexing and straightening his knees, while firmly holding the handles 38, the child or occupant of the device of Figure 1 will bring pressure to bear in such a way as to tend to separate the cross bar 21 and the seat 34. This imparts a cranking action upon the device relative to the oblique shaft 28 and will impart rotary motion to the seatboard. Since the seatboard and footboard are keyed together by means of pins 40 being inserted in the space between flanges 42 they will revolve together. As they revolve they will also tend to separate since, in the construction of Figure 1, the footboard is mounted for horizontal rotation whereas the seatboard is mounted for rotation about an axis 28 oblique to that of the footboard. As rotation continues the separation of adjacent portions of footboard 2t and seatboard 32 will reach a maximum of about that shown to the left in Figure 1 after which the raised seat 34 will drop to its lowermost position from which this cycle started. During the travel of a seat 34 from its high point to low point the rider relaxes into a sitting position with a substantial portion of his weight on the seat 34 and gravity takes effect until the low point is reached at which time the child will pump and again impart rotary motion. Rather substantial speeds of rotation are obtained, and due to the rising and falling path of travel of the occupant, it is found that, with children particularly, a very exhilarating sensation is created. Said seatboard 32 and said footboard 20 may be considered generically as first and second rotors, which may take other forms as will appear below.

Of course the operation of the device with two children would be quite similar, but the device would accelerate faster since the two occupants gain more momentum and usually cooperate to obtain rotation.

It has been found that rather substantial diverstiy in the weight or size of two occupants make little or no difference in the operation of this amusement device, although it may only be occasionally that the smaller of the two occupants would effectively bring pressure to bear upon the footboard to create the cranking action involved in the rotation.

In Figure 3 wherein is shown a slight modification of the device, I have illustrated a more permanent base 50 which, in this instance, comprises a mass of concrete embedded in the earth to support the column 52 in a vertical 7 manner; Rotatable tubular footboard 54, preferably formed of pipe or tubing is mounted near the ground and has. at its ends the cross bars 56. This arm revolves in a horizontal plane. The tubular seatboard 58, having rear cleated seats 60, 60 at either end, extends across the device and revolveson the oblique portion 62 of column 52., .Brace and guide bars 69 are secured to seatboard 58 and the upper housing tube 57 as by welding thereto. The upper end of bars 69 are outwardly bent to form hand grips 68.

Secured to lower housing tube 55 and passing through tube 54 are the guide members 59. These members coact with the spaced arcuate brace members 69 to provide a driving relationship between the footboard 54 and the seatboard 58 throughout the full range of vertical displacement between base 54 and seatboard 58. 7

One factor that lends a'great deal to the enjoyment as wellas the safety of this device is the banking of the riders seat. The angularity of shaft portion 62 ha the eifect of tipping the leading edge of the seat downwardly as the rider starts to descend and in going up the seat is tipped in the opposite sense. This gives the riders maximum stability and further increases the sense of exhilaration.

Referring now to Figure 4 wherein is illustrated a modification of the device previously described, it will be seen that the upright column 82 raises from base 80 and upon column 82 is mounted for rotation the annular footboard 84 that in turn is carried by a frame comprising the horizontal members 86 and the bracing members 88, both of which, by means of collars 87 and 89 respectively, may rotate freely about the intermediate shaft 90. The angularly disposed shaft 92 receives for rotation an annular hand rail 94 that includes spokes 96 and 98 and the occupants, either children or adults, grasp hand rail 94 while they are standing, as indicated by the stick figures shown upon the platform 84. In the instance of the device of Figure 4, rotation is obtained by the occupants pressing down and lifting up on hand rail 94 to create a cranking action whereupon the platform 84 is revolved. With but slight changes in the proportion and size of the device, the apparatus in Figure 4 can be simply constructed to accommodate from six to six dozen.passengersmerely by increasing the diameter of the platform 84 and the diameter of hand rail 94. Since the two devices rotate together, being keyed for simultaneous rotation through the instrumentality of the occupants, the element of in herent danger is minimized. To increase safety and to prevent children from falling down into the framework,

involving the horizontal members 86 and the angular members 88, the outer conical face of the same can be sheathed or enclosed.

With reference to Figure 5 of the drawings, it will be seen that by but a slight modification, the multiple-passenger amusement device of Figure 4 can be embodied in a construction which permits the occupants to ride sittin g down rather than in the standing position. In effect the essential parts of the device of Figure 4 are reversed as shown in Figure 5. The base 1813 supports in an obliquely upright manner the column 102 which has 'a collar 104 upon which rests the free rotating hub 106 of aradial framework 108 having an annular footboard 109 about its periphery. Above the framework 108, the column is arranged so that a shaft extension 110 is vertical, and it is about the axis of this shaft extension 110 that the upper framework, comprising the hub 112, radial arms 1 14, and annular seatboard 116, freely revolve. A hand rail 118 permits the occupant, seated upon the annular seat 116 to grasp the hand rail and obtain purchase at such occasion as he exerts, through his legs, downward pressure upon the annular footboard 109. In the opera-' tion of the device of Figure 5, the passenger travels in a circular path that is horizontal, while his feet rise and fall 4 due to the up and down path described by the footboard 109 as it revolves. 1

It is believed it will be clearly apparent from the above description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of an amusement device.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. A merry-go-round, comprising: a supporting base and a column fixedly upstanding from said base, a first and a second rotor each secured at its center to said column by mounting means supporting each rotor for rotation about the column axis, said first and second rotors being vertically spaced apart and said column having an obtuse angle bend between the rotor mounting means so that the rotors rotate in non-parallel planes and motion of the rotors about said column can beobtained by forcing adjacent portions of the rotors toward and away from each other, said first rotor forming a flat shelf type support for the weight of the user and said second rotor being disposed relative said first rotor in position so that a pair of limbs of the user can act thereon to apply force to separate and move together said adjacent portions of said rotors, said first rotor being a seatboard and said second rotor a footboard.

2. The subject matter of claim l in which said seatboard is elongated with a seat formed at each end and said footboard is elongated with a footrest formed at each end and there is keying means between said seatboard and said footboard securing the seatboard in aligned super-position to said footboard in all positions of the rotors.

3. The subject matter of claim' 2 in which said keying means includes a pair of rigid upright members secured to one of said rotors at one end and extending toward the other rotor at either side of said column and guide means formed on said other rotor having an abutment at each side of each upright member thereby preventing relative rotary movement between the rotors.

4. The subject matter of claim 3 in'which said guide means is a pair of are shaped rods secured near each end to said seatboard with the curved portions of the rods between the points of attachment to the seatboard depending below the seatboard in spaced, parallel relationship forming said abutments at either side of said upright members which extend upward from said footboard, the upper ends of said rods being turned to each side away from said seatboard forming a pair of hand grips.

5. A merry-go-round, comprising: a supporting base and a column fixedly upstanding from said base, a first and a second rotor each secured at its center to said column by mounting means supporting each rotor for rotation about the column axis, said first and second rotors References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 671,251 Watts Apr. 2, 1901 1,670,882 Eckberg May 22, 1928 2,111,848 Erhardt Mar. 22, 1938 2,189,239 Brewster Feb. 6, 1940 2,242,843 Arnold May 20, 1941 2,395,398 Cruver Feb. 26, 1946 2,467,338 Sellards Apr. 12, 1949 

